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Issue Addressed Methods Results Conclusions So What? Physically locating liquor stores near schools can strongly influence the chances of youth accessing and consuming alcohol, and may also increase children's exposure to alcohol advertising. Investigating the association between the presence of a liquor store near a school and the prevalence of outdoor alcohol advertising is crucial from a policy perspective, as it can inform future regulations on the placement of liquor stores and outdoor advertising near educational institutions.All outdoor alcohol advertising within a 500 m radius (audit zone) of 64 randomly selected schools from local government areas across metropolitan Perth was identified by direct observation; recording the size, setting, location and content of each advertisement. Results were compared based on whether the school audit zone contained a liquor store or not.Over half (n = 36, 56%) of all school audit zones had at least one alcohol advertisement, with an average number of 5.9 alcohol advertisements per zone (SD = 10.2). The majority (97.9%) of advertisements were in the 38 audit zones containing a liquor store (average = 9.7, SD = 11.9 per zone), compared to zones without a liquor store (average = .3, SD = .7 per zone).Perth school zones containing a liquor store in their 500 m radius had, on average, 30 times more outdoor alcohol advertising, compared with school zones without a nearby liquor store.The siting of liquor stores and the display of alcohol advertisements around educational settings require combined policy, planning and public health approaches to mitigate children's exposure to alcohol marketing, especially during school transit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study evaluated effects of exposure to culturally tailored anti-smoking ads versus control ads on quitting intentions, cigarette purchase intentions, and tobacco industry perceptions among young adult, cisgender and transgender, sexual minority women (SMW). An online randomized controlled experiment with 1-month longitudinal follow-up was conducted. About 2,214 U.S. SMW ages 18–30 were recruited via online survey panels (The PRIDE Study and Prolific), social media ads and posts, and HER dating app ads. Data were collected in 2021–2022. Participants were randomly assigned to receive up to 20 tailored ads containing LGBTQ+ branding versus 20 control ads without LGBTQ+ branding over 4 weeks. Both conditions used identical anti-smoking statements and photographs (including several photographs of individuals who self-identified as SMW). One-month follow-up intention to purchase cigarettes, intention to quit, marketing receptivity, pro-industry attitudes, and pro-industry beliefs were measured. Analyses were conducted in 2022–2023. Linear regression models predicted outcomes at 1-month follow-up with the randomized arm, adjusted for baseline measures of each outcome and stratified by smoking status (those who currently smoked and those who did not smoke). Among those who smoked, follow-up intention to quit increased and intention to purchase cigarettes, marketing receptivity, pro-industry attitudes, and pro-industry beliefs decreased versus baseline in both arms. Follow-up pro-industry beliefs were significantly lower (B=−0.331, 95% CI −0.652, −0.010, p =0.043) in the tailored versus control arm, adjusted for baseline beliefs. Among those who did not smoke, marketing receptivity, pro-industry attitudes, and pro-industry beliefs decreased versus baseline in both arms. Follow-up outcomes did not differ significantly between arms. These findings can inform future anti-smoking campaign development to reduce cigarette smoking-related disparities among young adult, cisgender and transgender, sexual minority women and serve as the basis for developing similar ads for other LGBTQ+ audiences. This study was registered in ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT04812795). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many nonregulatory interventions targeting children and youth have been implemented at three levels: directed at the individual (e.g., interactive video games), delivered to students at school (e.g., campus bans), and launched in the community (e.g., mass media campaigns). This systematic review aims to synthesize the evidence on the effectiveness of interventions aimed at preventing e-cigarette initiation among children and youth. MEDLINE, CINAHL, Embase, APA PsycINFO, and Web of Science Core Collection were searched for papers published between January 1, 2004 and September 1, 2022 that reported more than one outcome on vaping prevention among individuals aged less than 21-years-old: vaping prevalence/incidence, initiation intentions, knowledge/attitudes, and other tobacco product use prevalence/initiation intentions. Interventions were at the individual, school, or community level. The risk of bias was assessed using ROBINS-I and RoB 1. Thirty-nine publications met the eligibility criteria. Fourteen individually-based (4 parental monitoring, 3 video games, 2 text messages, 3 graphic message themes, 2 healthcare), 19 school-based (14 educational and skill interventions, 5 vape-free policies/bans), and 6 community-based (3 social media, 3 mass media campaigns) interventions were reported. E-cigarette initiation prevention was observed with high perceived parental monitoring; however, the cross-sectional study designs precluded causal claims. There was promising but limited evidence that social-emotional skills curricula and peer leader programming prevented vaping initiation. Some individual- and school-based interventions showed promise for preventing e-cigarette initiation among children and youth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Issue Addressed: Adolescents are heavily exposed to unhealthy outdoor food advertisements near schools, however, the marketing power of these advertisements among adolescents has not yet been explored. This study aimed to investigate the teen‐directed marketing features present and quantify the overall marketing power of outdoor food advertisements located near schools to explore any differences by content (ie, alcohol, discretionary, core and miscellaneous foods) school type (ie, primary, secondary, K‐12) and area‐level socio‐economic status (SES; ie, low vs high). Methods: This cross‐sectional study audited every outdoor food advertisement (n = 1518) within 500m of 64 randomly selected schools in Perth, Western Australia, using a teen‐informed coding tool to score the marketing power of each advertisement. Results: Outdoor alcohol advertisements around schools had the highest average marketing power score and number of advertising features present. Outdoor advertisements for alcohol and discretionary foods scored significantly higher in marketing power than core food advertisements (P <.001). Outdoor alcohol advertisements around secondary schools scored significantly higher in marketing power than around primary and K‐12 schools (P <.001); and outdoor advertisements for discretionary foods in low SES areas scored significantly higher in marketing power than those in high SES areas (P <.001). Conclusions: This study found outdoor advertisements for unhealthy products, such as alcohol and discretionary foods, were more powerful than advertisements for core foods around schools. So What?: These findings strengthen the need for policies which restrict outdoor advertisements for non‐core foods near schools, to reduce adolescents' exposure to powerful alcohol and discretionary food advertisements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"Cigarettes and Soviets: Smoking in the USSR" by Tricia Starks is a well-researched and beautifully written study that explores the complex relationship between tobacco consumption and production in the Soviet Union from 1917 to 1991. The book focuses on specific aspects of Soviet smoking, such as early attempts to ban tobacco, state initiatives to boost agricultural and industrial manufacturing, the advertising and promotion of tobacco, cessation treatment efforts, and the role of smoking during World War II. It also examines the influence of Western multinational enterprises on the post-Soviet smoking industry. While the book provides valuable insights into Soviet history, the reviewer suggests that a thematic approach and a broader global perspective could have further enhanced its scope. [Extracted from the article]

Every year, over seven million people die due to tobacco-related diseases. Tobacco and tobacco product consumption are among the leading causes of preventable deaths. Health communication campaigns can inform the public, raise awareness, and educate people about healthy behaviors. Health communication campaigns are targeted communication efforts, whether short- or long-term, based on a process and strategy designed to raise awareness among individuals on health issues and help them acquire and maintain healthy lifestyle habits. The anti-smoking Stoptober campaign conducted in the United Kingdom since 2012 is a good example of a campaign due to its long-term nature, inclusion of positive and cheerful messages, national and local coverage, and its ability to motivate individuals to quit smoking. Each country should prepare and implement anti-smoking campaigns based on its unique conditions, inform the public, and enhance the effectiveness of their efforts through evaluations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article provides an overview of the tactics used by the tobacco industry to influence public opinion and disrupt health policy. These tactics include advertising, promotion, and sponsorship; the use of front groups; manipulating the media; funding biased research; political lobbying; and legal challenges. The article suggests countering these tactics through comprehensive advertising bans, plain packaging, and remaining vigilant about industry front groups. It also emphasizes the need for independent research and legislation to regulate electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) like e-cigarettes. The article includes a list of sources related to the tobacco industry and control, as well as information on legal challenges and litigation. [Extracted from the article]

Background: Water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) interventions, which are specifically targeted towards young children—known as "BabyWASH"—reduce exposure to environmental contamination and prevent microbial burden in their play and feeding environments. The purpose of this endline study was to evaluate the effectiveness and potential sustainability of a multimedia educational intervention in influencing key BabyWASH and diarrhea prevention practices in four hard-to-reach woredas (i.e. administrative districts) of the Afar and Somali regions of Ethiopia. Methods: A mixed-method, comparative cross-sectional study was conducted, which included 457 household surveys, 16 key informant interviews, and 8 focus group discussions. The multimedia educational intervention comprised: broadcasting radio talk shows and radio spot messages, capacity-building training for community health workers and community leaders, community mobilization campaigns, and the distribution of promotional print media materials. Propensity score matching analysis was used to estimate the effect of the multimedia educational intervention on key BabyWASH and diarrhea prevention attitudes and practices, which was then triangulated with qualitative findings. Results: The multimedia intervention had a significant positive impact on good BabyWASH and diarrhea prevention practices, including appropriate practices of child feces disposal (t-test = 5.17; p < 0.001), handwashing with soap or ash (t-test = 8.85; p < 0.001), maintaining separate playgrounds for young children (t-test = 2.83; p < 0.001), washing of child's body, hands, and faces (t-test = 15.78; p < 0.001), and food hygiene practices (t-test = 2.74; p < 0.05). The findings of the qualitative assessment also revealed that the multimedia intervention packages and the approaches used were successful in influencing key BabyWASH and diarrhea prevention behaviors in the intervention implementation woredas. In addition, providing capacity building training to local actors and community leaders and recording radio talk shows and sharing them with community members were recognized as effective intervention implementation strategies. Conclusion: The endline evaluation found that the multimedia educational intervention improved awareness, perception, and practice of BabyWASH and diarrhea prevention behaviors in intervention woredas compared to control woredas. Sanitation and hygiene promotion interventions in pastoralist settings can be effective when using locally and contextually appropriate intervention strategies. However, considerations for integrating both behavioral and structural components in WASH interventions is essential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Issues Addressed: Energy drinks (EDs) are not recommended for children due to their high caffeine content and adverse health risks. Their popularity among children may be due to children's exposure to ED marketing. This study aimed to identify where children have seen ED marketing and whether they believe ED marketing targets them. Methods: Participant data were drawn from 'AMPED UP: An Energy Drink Study', where 3688 students in grades 7–12 (age 12–17 years) from 25 randomly selected secondary schools in Western Australia were asked if they had ever seen ED advertising on television, posters/signs in shops, online/internet, movies, cars/vehicles, social media, magazines/newspapers, music videos, video games, merchandise and free samples. Participants were also shown three ED advertisements and asked, 'Which age group/s do you think this ad targets?' (12 years or less, 13–17 years, 18–23 years, 24 years or older) and could select multiple age groups for each advertisement. Results: On average, participants saw ED advertising on 6.5 (SD = 2.5) of 11 possible marketing channels, including television (seen by 91% of participants), posters/signs in shops (88%), online/internet (82%) and movies (71%). Participants also perceived ED advertisements targeted children (< 18 years). Conclusions: ED marketing has a high reach among Western Australian children. The voluntary ED advertising pledge to not market EDs to children in Australia does not prevent children from seeing or being targeted by ED marketing. So What?: Stronger regulatory control of ED marketing is needed to better protect children from the appeal and adverse health risks of ED use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Issue addressed: To examine the potential impact on trends in reported adolescent sugar‐sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption following the adult‐targeted Western Australian (WA) LiveLighter "Sugary Drinks" campaign, which is a television‐led healthy lifestyle promotion and education mass media campaign that aired in multiple bursts between July 2013 and December 2018. Methods: Data were from a repeated cross‐sectional survey of Australian secondary school students aged 12‐17 years conducted nation‐wide in 2009‐2010 (n = 13 790 from 238 schools), 2012‐2013 (n = 10 309 from 196 schools) and 2018 (n = 9102 from 104 schools). Results: Significant declines in high SSB consumption (≥4 cups/week) were observed between 2009‐2010 and 2012‐2013 among students in both WA (27.1% vs 20.3%; odds ratio [OR] = 0.65, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.50‐0.84, P =.001) and all other states and territories combined (30.6% vs 21.4%; OR = 0.60, 95% CI = 0.53‐0.68, P <.001). Compared to 2012‐2013, the proportion of students in WA who reported high SSB consumption was significantly lower in 2018 (20.3% vs 9.6%; OR = 0.37, 95% CI = 0.21‐0.65, P =.001), whereas this significant decrease was not observed in all other states and territories combined (21.4% vs 17.8%; OR = 0.81, 95% CI = 0.67‐0.97, P =.024). Interaction testing indicated that the recent decline observed in WA was more pronounced among female than male students. Conclusions: Mass media campaigns targeted towards the Australian adult population may have favourable effects among adolescents with the steeper decline in high SSB consumption observed in WA between 2012‐2013 and 2018 coinciding with the repeated airing of the LiveLighter "Sugary Drinks" campaign in this state. So what?: Government investment in mass media campaigns may hasten declines in adolescents' SSB consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The prevalence of strong brands such as Coca-Cola, McDonald's, Budweiser, and Marlboro in "vice" categories has important implications for regulators and consumers. While researchers in multiple disciplines have studied the effectiveness of antitobacco countermarketing strategies, little attention has been given to how brand strength may moderate the efficacy of tactics such as excise taxes, usage restrictions, and educational advertising campaigns. In this research, the authors use a multiple discrete-continuous model to study the impact of antismoking techniques on smokers' choices of brands and quantities. The results suggest that although cigarette excise taxes decrease smoking rates, these taxes also result in a shift in market share toward stronger brands. Market leaders may be less affected by tax policies because their market power allows strong brands such as Marlboro to absorb rather than pass through increased taxes. In contrast, smoke-free restrictions cause a shift away from stronger brands. In terms of antismoking advertising, the authors find minimal effects on brand choice and consumption. The findings highlight the importance of considering brand asymmetries when designing a policy portfolio on cigarette tax hikes, smoke-free restrictions, and antismoking advertising campaigns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cigarettes are a risk factor accounting for the high mortality rate of passive smokers in the world. Instagram is one way to disseminate information about the dangers of cigarettes. This research aims to determine the effectiveness of social marketing through Instagram stories in disseminating anti-smoking campaign ads and increasing knowledge about the dangers for smoking amongst new students in the faculty of Public Health, University of Mulawarman. This research was conducted from October 8-10th 2022, using quantitative methods through Instagram polls. Social marketing in the form of anti-smoking campaigns through Instagram stories was used to measure knowledge levels. However, more research is needed to develop health promotion strategies on social media. Additional studies are required to create social media health promotion approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores how and why young people engage with MTV Shuga, a popular mass media campaign in South Africa, to understand what makes effective HIV edutainment. Young MTV Shuga viewers from the Eastern Cape, South Africa and their parents participated in remote individual interviews and focus groups in 2020. Qualitative data were transcribed and analysed using a thematic iterative approach. Young participants engaged with MTV Shuga for relatable, tolerant and complex stories about young people navigating HIV and relationships. These stories, which made viewers aware of sexual health services, inspired young people to reflect on how they might engage with different sexual health scenarios. MTV Shuga initiated conversations among peers, partners and some families about HIV that made them feel supported and equipped to tackle problems in their own lives. Complex, relatable, non-judgemental and youth-centred storylines can make HIV edutainment engaging to youth audiences. This approach allows space for reflection and inspires discussion and debate, turning young people from passive recipients of HIV messaging to active decision-makers. Television-based interventions can disseminate resources and knowledge into communities, however, watching them with parents can expose young people to judgement. HIV edutainment should therefore be available through different mediums so young people can engage in tolerant environments [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Smoking-related behavior including passive smoking poses a major burden on the health status of populations and national economies. This is particularly true for countries that have a high prevalence of smoking like Jordan, which also has an increasing trend of waterpipe smoking: Knowledge of passive smoking and the association of knowledge of smoking as cancer-causing with quitting in addition to characteristics of smokers with denial or ignorance were assessed. Methods: This study is part of a nationwide, cross-sectional survey conducted in Jordan. Respondents (3196) were asked about their knowledge of passive smoking in addition to the association of active, waterpipe, and passive smoking with cancer. Smokers were also asked about the possibility of them developing cancer. Knowledge and perception were correlated to past attempts and future intentions of quitting smoking. Smokers with a denial of developing cancer or lack of knowledge of the association of smoking with cancer were further characterized. Results: Approximately half of the respondents, in general, knew of the term “passive smoking.” Knowledge of the association of smoking-related behavior with cancer was very high (~95%). However, almost 75% of smokers thought that they would develop cancer with a strong association between this perception with previous attempts or future intentions to quit smoking. Whereas smokers in their 20s and 50s, those with decreasing income, and female smokers were more likely to be in denial that they may develop cancer, male smokers and smokers in their 40s, or with intermediate education or increasing income appeared to be ignorant of the association of smoking with developing cancer. Conclusions: These results may aid in the development of more effective and targeted anti-smoking campaigns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cui Zhihai's book, "The United States and Late Qing China, 1894-1911," reevaluates the history of China-US relations during this period. Cui highlights the Boxer Protocol of 1901 as a turning point, leading to significant changes in the Qing government's foreign policy and internal power structure. The book explores the US government's support for modernization reforms in the late Qing, as well as its role in major events such as the anti-smoking campaign and the Wuchang Uprising. Cui's research sheds new light on the complex and special nature of Sino-US relations during this time, providing valuable insights for scholars of modern Chinese history. [Extracted from the article]

Vaccine hesitancy is a diffused psychological phenomenon that has been increasingly addressed in several studies since the COVID-19 pandemic. Communication campaigns play a pivotal role influencing recipients' perceptions and may affect the likelihood to vaccinate or to show hesitancy. In the context of communicating risks during the COVID-19 pandemic, we hypothesized that highlighting different aspects of data on the effectiveness of vaccines would influence people's willingness and attitudes to vaccinate. In this exploratory study, we administered two versions of a survey to a convenience sample of students from three universities in Italy. In the first version, salience was placed on the effectiveness of the vaccine in terms of reducing the probability of infection. In the second version, salience was placed on the effectiveness of the vaccine in terms of reducing the probability of hospitalization after being infected by COVID-19. The results confirmed our hypothesis: participants reported that they were more willing to become vaccinated when exposed to the hospitalization frame (main dimension). Conversely, we found mixed effects of the frame on the following sub-dimensions: reliability, trust, protection, safety, and confidence. Taken together, we show that it is possible to influence, to some extent, university students' attitudes and perceptions toward COVID-19 vaccination by acting on how information is framed. We discuss the implications of these findings for the development of behaviorally informed policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The Nigerian government implemented the National Tobacco Control Act (NTCA) in 2015, which prohibits tobacco advertising, promotion, and sponsorship (TAPS) exposure to children under 18 years of age. This study was conducted to assess the prevalence of attitudes and exposure to TAPS among in-school adolescents in Lagos State, Nigeria, 5 years after the implementation of the Act and to identify the factors associated with TAPS exposure among the adolescents. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted among 968 in-school adolescents selected through multistage random sampling. The data were collected using self-administered questionnaires adapted from the Global Youth Tobacco Survey. Results: Overall, 77% had been exposed to at least one form of TAPS in the past 30 days. The most frequently reported channel of exposure was through product placements, with 62% reporting exposure in films, TV, and videos. Up to 15.2% and 12.6% were exposed to TAPS through promotional activities and sponsorships, respectively. The majority (82.3%) had pro-tobacco attitudes, while about a third (33.1%) had pro-TAPS attitudes. Factors associated with TAPS exposure were having pro-TAPS attitudes (odds ratio [OR]: 3.5, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.3-5.3), being female (OR: 2, 95% CI: 1.4-2.7), and residing in a rural area (OR: 1.6, 95% CI: 1.2-2.3). Conclusion: Five years after implementing the NTCA, more than two-thirds of the adolescents reported exposure to TAPS, mainly through films, TV, and videos. This suggests that the NTCA is poorly enforced. Efforts to ensure the effective implementation of comprehensive TAPS bans are warranted. Gender-sensitive strategies that target adolescents' attitudes and school-level factors should be emphasized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The anti-tobacco advertisements, also known as Anti-Tobacco Health Spots (ATHS), are commonly used mass-media to promote tobacco prevention and control. This study was conducted to assess perceived effectiveness of ATHS used in Indian Cinema. The study also aims to identify factors associated with effectiveness of ATHS. A cross-sectional survey of 454 men aged ≥20 years selected through multi-stage stratified random sampling was conducted. Perceived effectiveness of ATHS was assessed using a six-item scale with 7-point Likert type items. Data were quantitatively analyzed using descriptive statistics and binary logistic regression. Over half of participants (51.54%, n=234) perceived ATHS to be "less effective." The health spots were likely to be more effective when participants perceived them as powerful (OR=4.11; 95% CI=2.47–6.83) and emotional (OR=3.32; 95% CI=1.90–5.79). Among tobacco users, those with better readiness (OR=2.42, 95% CI=1.26–4.65) and higher motivation to quit tobacco (OR=4.08, 95% CI=1.25–13.31) perceived ATHS as more effective. The study findings emphasize the need to improve the Indian anti-tobacco health spots. Specific attributes such as ATHS being emotional, fear evoking and sadness inducing could be explored to make ATHS more effective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Exposure to alcohol advertising and sponsorship through elite sport is associated with harmful use of alcohol. Owing to strong financial and cultural ties between alcohol and sport in Australia, policy action to restrict alcohol sport sponsorship is unlikely to occur without strong public support for change. This study tested whether exposure to counter-advertising exposing industry marketing of harmful products—a technique shown to be effective in tobacco control—promotes higher support for policy change and less favourable beliefs about the alcohol industry among sport spectators. Methods: A sample of 1,075 Australian adults aged 18–49 years who planned to watch an National Rugby League (NRL) State of Origin series game, featuring prominent alcohol sponsorship, was recruited through an online panel and randomly assigned to one of three conditions: control (neutral advertisement); counter-advertisement exposing alcohol harms; counter-advertisement exposing alcohol sponsorship and harms. Participants completed a pre-test questionnaire and viewed their assigned counter-advertisement multiple times in the 5–7 days before the NRL game. Within four days of watching the game, participants completed post-test measures. Results: Compared to both the control advertisement and the counter-advertisement exposing alcohol harms, participants who viewed the counter-advertisement exposing alcohol sponsorship and harms were significantly more likely to indicate support for each of four policies aimed at restricting sports-related alcohol marketing, including the complete removal of alcohol sponsorship from sport (51% vs. 32% and 37%). They were also significantly less likely to agree with statements such as "alcohol companies should be allowed to sponsor sport since their products are legal" (39% vs. 63% and 60%) and significantly less likely to report liking alcohol companies in general (38% vs. 59% and 54%). There were no significant differences in policy support or industry beliefs between participants who saw the counter-advertisement exposing alcohol harms and those who saw the control advertisement. Conclusion: Counter-advertising employing messages that expose and critique the intent and impact of pervasive alcohol sponsorship in sport has potential to bolster public support for policies targeting alcohol sport sponsorship, diminish beliefs supportive of alcohol industry marketing strategies and enhance negative views of alcohol companies and their marketing practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Osteoporosis is especially prevalent in the older population and in women. Fractures lead to many health complications, placing an enormous burden on the health system. Improved knowledge will encourage healthy practices that prevent osteoporosis and help community members avoid unhealthy lifestyles and habits. The goal of this study was to evaluate the knowledge, attitudes, and practices relating to osteoporosis among male and female students of the Jazan community. Methods: The Jazan region has 13 governorates and a population of more than 1.5 million. For this study, 440 participants were selected from seven different governorates, and the osteoporosis knowledge assessment tool (OKAT) was used together with five background variables and some questions on attitude and practice. A Chi-squared test was implemented to identify any significant relationships between the background variables and the knowledge and practice scores. A P value of less than 0.05 was considered significant. Results: Of the 440 participants, 53% were men and 47% women. Thirty-three percent of them held government jobs, 73% had completed university, and 50% had a monthly income of less than 5,000 riyals. Regarding the risk factors for osteoporosis, 62 (14%) smoked, 37 (8.4%) used steroids, 184 (41.8%) had a family history of osteoporosis, and 393 (89.3%) had not attended an education campaign on osteoporosis. The highest number of correct answers in the OKAT was to the question "osteoporosis increases the risk of fractures" (423, 96.1%), and the lowest number of correct answers was to the question "osteoporosis is more common in men" (60, 13.6%). Regarding protective behaviors against osteoporosis, namely physical activity, daily intake of dairy products, attending an education campaign, and background characteristics, attending an education campaign was statistically significant, with a P value of 0.003, but marital status, education level, body mass index (BMI), and occupation were not statistically significant. For the risk factors, sex was statistically significant, along with the daily soft drink intake and smoking but not with the use of steroids. Other background characteristics, such as education level and BMI, were not statistically significant as osteoporosis risk factors. Conclusions: The participants' level of knowledge was high, and the risk factors for osteoporosis were still present together with a low level of achievement for protective measures. It is highly recommended that education campaigns be implemented to increase knowledge and encourage improved attitudes and practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Flavored tobacco sales restrictions (FTSRs) are implemented to reduce access to flavored tobacco products. We examined the association between seven cities with local FTSRs implemented in 2018/2019 and e-cigarette use among high school students in the California Bay Area.Aims and Methods: We analyzed data from the California Healthy Kids Survey using a difference-in-differences (D-I-D) strategy. We compared pre- and post-policy changes one year after implementation in current and ever e-cigarette use among students attending school in a city with a FTSR (exposed) (n = 20 832) versus without (unexposed) (n = 66 126). Other outcomes included ever marijuana use in an e-cigarette and ease of access to e-cigarettes.Results: Pre- to post-policy, the adjusted odds of current and ever e-cigarette use did not significantly change among students exposed and unexposed to a FTSR. In the adjusted D-I-D analysis, the odds of current (aOR: 1.25, 95% CI: 0.95, 1.65) and ever e-cigarette use (aOR: 1.06, 95% CI: 0.89, 1.26) did not significantly change by exposure group. However, one year post-implementation, the odds of ease of access to e-cigarettes significantly increased among exposed (aOR: 1.57, 95% CI: 1.27, 1.95) and unexposed students (aOR: 1.54, 95% CI: 1.39, 1.70). Similarly, the odds of ever using marijuana in an e-cigarette significantly increased among exposed (aOR: 1.35, 95% CI: 1.19, 1.53) and unexposed students (aOR: 1.29, 95% CI: 1.20, 1.39).Conclusions: Local FTSRs in the California Bay Area were not associated with a change in e-cigarette use one year post-implementation. Increased ease of access and marijuana use may be explanatory factors.Implications: FTSRs were not associated with a decrease in current or ever e-cigarette use among high school students in the California Bay Area one-year post-implementation. Potential explanatory factors are that ease of access to e-cigarettes and using marijuana in an e-cigarette increased. More research is needed to understand the influence of these factors on youth access and behaviors. To address the youth e-cigarette epidemic, a comprehensive approach is needed, including policies, media campaigns, education programs, and cessation tools targeted to youth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Widespread commercial promotion of alcohol products in Australia undermines the abstinence message for young people. This study aims to document the frequency of adolescents' exposure to alcohol advertising and examine associations with drinking behaviours. Methods: Students aged 12–17 years (n = 3618) participating in a cross‐sectional survey self‐reported their exposure to alcohol advertising via eight sources. Students also indicated whether they had never consumed alcohol, consumed at least a few sips of alcohol in their lifetime but none in the past month ('irregular drinkers') or consumed more than 10 drinks in their lifetime including at least one drink in the past month ('drinkers'). Multinomial logistic regression analyses examined associations between both single‐channel and cumulative exposure to alcohol advertising and drinking status, controlling for sex, age and education sector. Results: Television (61%), the internet (56%) and at sporting events (50%) were the most common channels through which students reported seeing alcohol advertising. Weekly exposure via each of the eight assessed channels was associated with being a drinker (vs. a non‐drinker or an irregular drinker, respectively), whereas only weekly exposure via television and sporting events was associated with being an irregular drinker (vs. a non‐drinker). As students' level of cumulative exposure to alcohol advertising increased, so too did their likelihood of being a drinker. Discussion and Conclusions: Alcohol advertising exposure is positively associated with drinking among Australian adolescents. Tighter restrictions on alcohol advertising across all media in Australia may reduce adolescent exposure and help de‐normalise alcohol use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine the optimal design of policies directed at regulating tobacco consumption through two types of instruments: taxation and anti-smoking mass media campaigns. We find that the main role of taxation is to correct for the population-average internal costs of smoking, while anti-smoking campaigns serve a complementary role. Namely, they add to the social welfare benefits of tobacco regulation as they are relatively more effective than taxation at discouraging smoking by individuals characterized by low degrees of self-control and high smoke-related health [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Anti-tobacco media campaigns can prevent youth smoking, but there is little research on how adult-targeted campaigns affect youth. We investigated the association between the Tips From Former Smokers (Tips) campaign and youth smoking behaviors and anti-tobacco attitudes, and variation by sex, race and/or ethnicity, or socioeconomic status.Aims and Methods: We used data from the monitoring of the future study, a nationally representative survey on 8th, 10th, and 12th graders, from 2013-2015. Quartiles of Tips gross rating points (GRPs) were used to estimate exposure. Youth smoking behavior outcomes included smoking prevalence, initiation, and susceptibility. The anti-tobacco attitude outcomes included the extent that anti-tobacco ads made participants (1) less favorable towards smoking or (2) less likely to smoke cigarettes. Modified Poisson regression models estimated average marginal effects; separate additive interactions between Tips GRP exposure and sex, race and/or ethnicity, parents' highest education, and college plans (12th graders only) were used to test for effect modification.Results: Tips GRPs were not associated with smoking behaviors within any grade. However, 12th graders in the highest quartile of Tips had a 7.0 percentage point higher probability (95% CI = 0.023-0.116) of responding that anti-tobacco ads made them less likely to smoke. Tips GRPs were associated with a lower probability of past 30-day smoking prevalence among 10th grade females, but not males (joint P-value = .002). No additional statistically significant interactions were found for any other outcomes for any grade.Conclusions: This study revealed the potential for adult-targeted campaigns to increase youth's anti-smoking attitudes, but campaign exposure was not associated with smoking behaviors.Implications: Few studies have examined the potential for anti-smoking media campaigns to influence audiences outside their targeted audience. In this study, we show the potential for adult-targeted campaigns to impact youth and suggest that Tips exposure may promote anti-smoking attitudes among youth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Communities with more people of color and economically disadvantaged residents are disproportionately exposed to tobacco marketing from tobacco companies. This study examined if banning tobacco retail outlets (TROs) within 1000 ft of schools would reduce these marketing disparities through a greater reduction in the amount of tobacco advertising around schools in these communities.Methods: Data from objectively audited advertisement data from 106 convenience stores and gas stations around 42 middle and high schools located in the four major metropolitan areas of Texas were linked with schools' enrollment data. ArcGIS (Aeronautical Reconnaissance Coverage Geographic Information System) was used to simulate a 1000-ft ban of tobacco sales around the schools. Independent sample T-tests and Mann-Whitney U tests were used to test mean differences where appropriate.Results: Schools with a higher enrollment of Hispanic/Latino (mean = 171.6, SD = 96.9) and economically disadvantaged students (mean = 168.9, SD = 102.3) were surrounded with significantly greater advertising at TROs than schools with lower enrollment of these groups (mean = 82.8, SD = 49.1 and mean = 89.2, SD = 50.6, respectively). A simulated 1000 ft ban of TROs around schools led to greater advertising reduction around schools with a higher enrollment of Hispanic/Latino students (13.3%-29.4% reductions) in comparison to schools with lower Hispanic/Latino student enrollment. However, the more economically disadvantaged schools had a smaller reduction in the number of advertisements (5.9%-21.9% reductions) in comparison to schools with less economically disadvantaged students.Conclusion: The implementation of a ban of tobacco sales at TROs within 1000 ft of schools is one policy approach to reduce youth exposure to tobacco marketing, particularly among students of color.Study Implication: Tobacco retail outlets (TROs) around schools with a higher enrollment of Hispanic/Latino and economically disadvantaged students had significantly more tobacco advertisements in comparison to schools with lower enrollment of these student groups. A simulated ban of TROs within 1000 ft of schools led to greater advertising reduction around schools with a higher enrollment of Hispanic/Latino students. For schools with more economically disadvantaged students, the ban led to a smaller reduction in advertisements in comparison to schools with less economically disadvantaged students. This proposed place-based strategy could be a successful means to reduce tobacco advertising and marketing disparity among communities of color. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In many domains of health risk prevention and management, tailoring messages specifically for different stages of change is critical. In the context of smoking cessation, this research represents an initial attempt to discover stage-specific affective profiles in terms of guilt versus shame. It then examines whether stage-congruent emotional appeals increase the persuasiveness of antismoking campaigns. Study 1 found that participants felt more negative self-conscious emotions as they entered the later stages of smoking cessation, showing more salient emotional states of guilt rather than shame. Study 2 found that stage-emotion compatibility, such as that exhibited by participants in the early stages of change, was not altered by emotional appeals regardless of the emotional type. In contrast, those in the later stages of change perceived guilt rather than shame appeals to be more effective and displayed greater smoking cessation intention. Through this, current research takes an important step toward theoretically identifying the affective states associated with different stages of change for smoking cessation and helps practitioners use emotional appeals effectively and appropriately in public health campaigns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A healthy and safe public health environment is a fundamental responsibility of government; achieving it requires collaboration across multiple sectors. Public health services include, for example, vaccination and quarantine for infectious diseases; health promotion, such as anti-smoking campaigns for noncommunicable diseases; and health insurance for universal health coverage. All these services require intersectoral actions in which the government must play a fundamental role, either partially or totally. The Taiwanese outlook on governmental public health infrastructure and professionalization of public health is given in this paper. It also describes the national governmental public health measures that were employed during the Covid-19 pandemic and discusses the challenges ahead for the country's governmental public health. Governmental public health is essential and should not be affected by changes in political forms or socioeconomic development. Instead, effective governmental public health will promote these developments while protecting citizens' right to health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) is an obsessive-compulsive-related disorder causing clinically significant distress or impairment in functioning. The objective of this study was to assess the BDD symptoms and factors associated with BDD symptomatology among undergraduate students.Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted from November 2019 to March 2020 in six different universities (3 private and 3 public) across Bangladesh. A total of 1204 undergraduate students were selected through the multistage sampling technique. The BDD-YBOCS tool was used to assess the BDD symptomatology.Results: Mild to moderate BDD symptoms was observed among 11.0 % participants, and 1.5 % had severe BDD symptoms. Around 58 % of participants had at least one body defect. Most embarrassments occurred due to acne (12.5 %), followed by thin hair (9.5 %) and scar marks (6.4 %). Males had significantly lower odds of having BDD symptomatology (OR = 0.394; 95%CI = 0.254-0.614) and Participants aged between 20 and 24 years had higher odds (OR = 4.639; 95%CI = 1.024-21.107). Studying in private universities had 1.7 times higher odds in comparison to the public universities (OR = 1.671, 95%CI = 1.052-2.656). Smokers were more prone to have BDD symptomatology than non-smokers (OR = 2.72; 95%CI = 1.571-4.709) and students who had body defects had higher odds (OR = 2.647; CI = 1.723-4.066) of BDD symptomatology.Conclusion: The study has successfully revealed status and predictors of BDD symptomatology among university students. Further nationwide studies would be conducted to know the overall situation of Bangladesh. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extensive evidence demonstrates that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's multimedia anti-smoking campaign, Tips from Former Smokers, is an effective public health measure. In this essay, Justice explains the rhetorical appeals utilized in the campaign that contribute to its resonance, arguing that the campaign invokes corporeal anxiety, an emotion that emerges from societal aversion to disability. These appeals to corporeal anxiety operate as enthymemes by relying upon an unstated premise: that disability is negative and ought to be avoided to preserve one's normalcy. This analysis treats the campaign messages as a form of bodily rhetoric and visual argument, arguing that the campaign deters smoking through graphic bodily imagery and narratives of lost normalcy that conceptualize disability as tragedy or deficit. The author concludes that the success of the campaign comes at the expense of perpetuating stigma against people with disabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Widespread misperceptions about nicotine may have unintended effects on public health. We examined associations between existing messages about nicotine or tobacco and beliefs about nicotine and reduced nicotine cigarettes (RNC). 2962 U.S. 18–45-year-olds were randomized in a May 2022 web-based survey to view one of 26 text-based messages about tobacco or nicotine from three sources: ongoing research (n = 8), messages authorized by FDA for VLN cigarettes (n = 6), and FDA's "From Plant to Product to Puff" campaign (n = 12); six messages from FDA's campaign did not reference nicotine and were treated as the reference source. Analyses examined associations between messages, grouped by source and individually, with beliefs about nicotine and RNC addictiveness and harms. Relative to FDA messages that did not reference nicotine, all message sources were associated with greater odds of a correct belief about nicotine (Odds Ratios [ORs] = 1.40–1.87, p 's < 0.01); VLN messages were associated with greater correct beliefs about RNC addictiveness (b = 0.23, p <.05). No campaign produced greater correct beliefs about RNC harms. At the individual level, only five messages were associated with a correct belief about nicotine (ORs = 2.12–2.56, p -values <.01), and one with correct beliefs about RNC harms (b = 1.09, p <.05), vs. the reference message. Few existing messages improved understanding of the risks of nicotine separately from the risks of combustible products. Communication research is needed to promote greater public understanding of nicotine while minimizing unintended effects on nicotine and tobacco use. • 2962 U.S. adults viewed one of 26 text-based messages about tobacco or nicotine. • Nicotine message source groups were associated with correct beliefs about nicotine. • VLN messages were associated with more correct beliefs about RNC addictiveness. • Few individual messages were associated with correct nicotine or RNC beliefs. • Findings highlight the difficulty in correcting misperceptions about nicotine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Introduction: Smoking is one of the common recreational drug uses. Tobacco smoking habit has spread across the world, and is a significant cause of mortality and morbidity. Smokers are more likely to develop many deadly diseases such as cancer and other types of respiratory diseases. Tobacco smokingrelated diseases have been shown to kill around half of long-term smokers compared with the overall mortality levels faced by nonsmokers. Aim: To investigate and assess the knowledge, attitude and awareness of the effects of smoking on oral health among non dental and non Medical University students in Kolkata Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted by circulating the self-designed questionnaire among 150 college students. The questionnaire was designed to assess the data's on demographics, smoking prevalence, smoking related knowledge and attitudes and health effects due to smoking habits. The survey was conducted through an online setting through google form. Results: The responses from the study were analysed and represented in pie charts. The findings were 85% of individuals are aware of the complications of smoking. Around10% of individuals felt that the habit of smoking is greatly influenced by friends and stress. 87% of individuals felt that smoking in public places is an offence. 81% of individuals strongly impose smoking Cessation Campaigns at their Institutions Conclusion: The study concludes that students are well aware about smoking habits and its ill effects which cause major complications in their health. In addition, collaborative and more comprehensive anti-tobacco efforts are important to curb the tobacco epidemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Student dropout can be conceptualized as a decision-making process, consisting of different phases. Based on previous literature on student dropout, decision-making, and action-phases, we proposed that the process of developing dropout intentions includes the following phases: non-fit perception, thoughts of quitting/changing, deliberation, information search, and a final decision. In the present cross-sectional study, we empirically investigated if the assumed phases can be distinguished from each other, if the phases follow the presumed order, and whether each phase is associated with certain characteristics. Furthermore, we considered a strict separation between quitting studies completely and changing a major. For this purpose, we analyzed data of N = 1005 students (average age of 23.0 years; 53% female; 47% male) from a German University. By using confirmatory factor analyses, we found the supposed factor structure for the different phases concerning both kinds of dropout, quitting studies, and changing majors. In each process, structural equation modelling indicated positive relations between adjoining phases. The factor values correlated to a substantial amount with an assortment of variables associated with student dropout. On a theoretical level, the conception of different phases of student dropout helps to get a better understanding of regulatory processes in the context of student dropout. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Since vaccination is the decisive factor for controlling the COVID-19 pandemic, it is important to understand the process of vaccination success which is not well understood on a global level. The study is the first to judge the now completed "first wave" of the vaccination efforts. The analysis is very relevant for the understanding why and where the vaccination process observed got stuck by the end of 2021.Methods: Using data from 118 countries globally and weighted least squared and survival analysis, we identify a variety of factors playing crucial roles, including the availability of vaccines, pandemic pressures, economic strength measured by Gross Domestic Product (GDP), educational development, and political regimes.Results: Examining the speed of vaccinations across countries until the Fall of 2021 when the global process got stuck, we find that initially authoritarian countries are slow in the vaccination process, while education is most relevant for scaling up the campaign, and the economic strength of the economies drives them to higher vaccination rates. In comparison to North and Middle America, European and Asian countries vaccinated initially fast for 5% and 10% vaccination rate thresholds, but became rather slow reaching the 30% vaccination level and above. The findings are robust to various applied estimation methods and model specifications.Conclusions: Democratic countries are much faster than authoritarian countries in their vaccination campaigns when controlling for other factors. This finding suggests that the quality of government and the political environment play a key role in popular support for government policies and programs. However, despite the early success of their vaccination campaigns, the democratic country group has been confronted with strong concerns of vaccine reluctance among their vast populations, indicating the two most potent variables explaining the speed of the COVID-19 vaccination campaign are education and economic conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) use has spread among adolescents in many countries, however users' characteristics are not well known. We aimed to compare characteristics of exclusive e-cigarette users to those of exclusive tobacco users and dual users.Methods: Data come from a representative sample of 11-19 years old students in Paris, surveyed each year between 2013 and 2017. Current e-cigarette and tobacco use were ascertained in the preceding 30 days. Data were analyzed using random intercept multinomial logistic regression models, exclusive tobacco smokers being the reference group.Results: Among the 17,435 students included, 2.3% reported exclusive e-cigarette use, 7.9% exclusive tobacco use and 3.2% dual e-cigarette and tobacco use. Compared to exclusive tobacco smokers, e-cigarette users were: a) less likely to use cannabis (adjusted Odds-Ratio (aOR) = 0.15, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) = 0.09-0.25); b) more likely to initiate smoking with an e-cigarette or a hookah rather than traditional cigarettes (aOR = 2.91, 95% CI = 1.74-4.87 and aOR = 15.99, 95% CI = 8.62-29.67, respectively). Additionally, exclusive e-cigarette users are younger with an aOR = 0.29 (95% CI = 0.17-0.49) among 13-15 years and aOR = 0.11 (95% CI = 0.06-0.21) among > 17 years as compared to 11-13 years. The probability of being an exclusive e-cigarette user is lower among participants whose best friend smokes tobacco (aOR = 0.30, 95% CI = 0.20-0.44). Exclusive tobacco users and dual users have similar profiles.Conclusions: Adolescents who only used e-cigarettes had intermediate levels of risk compared to nonusers and those who used tobacco and/or e-cigarettes, suggesting that e-cigarettes use extends to young people at low-risk of using tobacco products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Smoking is a public health concern of high importance. Globally, the prevalence of smoking has decreased gradually over a period from 1990-2015. However, the total numbers of smokers has increased over the same period. Currently, there are 1.1 billion smokers in the world which risk to an increase in smoking related health issues in turn contributes to increased burden of non-communicable diseases Objective: To assist the willingness to smoke cessation among medical students and its associated factors. Material and Methods: It is a cross-sectional study comprised of a self-administered Hamilton Tobacco use questionnaire administered witheligible university students. Data was collected from 266-participants after taking verbal informed consent. Data analysis was done using SPSS version 20. Results: A total of out of 266 respondents were taken for the study. In general, willingness to cessation smoke among medical students in Karachi was seen about 64% while high ratio reported among female as compare to males. In MBBS students it is 64.9%, BDS 65.3% and 55.8% among BS. Conclusion: The high ratio of smoke cessation in female students is an indicator towards need of massive behavioral change campaign in order to encourage medical students to quit cigarette smoking and other tobacco related substances. It can be possible by provision of some educational projects regarding the health hazards of smoking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the grim findings from Pakistan's Global Youth Tobacco Survey and emphasizes the need to harness the nation's youth for effective tobacco control through initiatives like the Voices Against Tobacco (VAT) program. Topics include youth-led interventions, community surveys, and the positive impact of engaging young advocates in raising awareness and influencing tobacco control policies in Pakistan.

INTRODUCTION Legislative policies aimed at curbing early exposure to smoking among youth are a crucial public health strategy. Yet little is known about US adults' public opinion on restricting exposure of children to movies depicting smoking. This study sought to characterize US adults' levels of support to restrict the exposure of children to smoking in movies and explore associations with sociodemographic characteristics. METHODS We used cross-sectional data from the 2020 Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS, n=3750) of adults in the United States to estimate the prevalence of opinions toward restricting the exposure of children to smoking in movies and examine correlates of support using weighted logistic regression. RESULTS In all, 48.2% of adults endorsed a supportive opinion. In multivariable logistic regression analysis, the odds of endorsing a supportive opinion were higher among Black/African American adults (OR=1.61; 95% CI: 1.04-2.49, p=0.033), and Hispanics (OR=1.78; 95% CI: 1.17-2.72, p=0.008) when compared to Whites. Similarly, compared to those aged 18-34 years, the odds of endorsing a supportive opinion were also greater among those aged 50-64 years (OR=2.15; 95% CI: 1.43-3.24, p<0.001) or aged =65 years (OR=3.83; 95% CI: 2.31-6.36, p<0.001). Higher odds for support were observed among those exposed to federal court-ordered anti-smoking tobacco messages (OR=1.37; 95% CI 1.06-1.78, p=0.018) and among those who reported using social media to share health information (OR=1.51; 95% CI: 1.02-2.23, p=0.041). CONCLUSIONS Only 48% of US adults endorsed support for restricting the exposure of children to smoking in movies. This study has identified subgroups of US adults for whom tailored communication interventions may increase support for policies that protect children from early initiation of smoking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Perceived effectiveness (PE) is a validated tool for predicting the potential impact of anti-tobacco public service announcements (PSAs). We set out to evaluate the added predictive value of facial expression analysis when combined with PE in a remote (online) survey. Each of 302 tobacco users watched 3 PSAs and allowed transmission of webcam videos from which metrics for "attention" (head position) and "facial action units" (FAU) were computed. The participants completed scales for their subjective emotions, willingness to share on social media, and intention to quit smoking using the Tobacco Free Florida website. Based on PE, both ready to quit (RTQ) and not ready (NR) respondents favored the same PSAs but RTQs assigned higher PE scores. Negative PSAs ("sad" or "frightening") were more compelling overall but RTQs also favored surprising ads and were more willing to share them on social media. Logistic regression showed that the combination of Attention + FAU+ PE (AUC = .816, p < .0001) outperformed single factors or factor combinations in distinguishing RTQ from NR. This study demonstrates that on-line assessment of facial expressions enhances the predictive value of PE and can be deployed on large remote samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Background: Tobacco use is one of the major public health threats globally. Community pharmacists are uniquely positioned to offer tobacco cessation services owing to their easy accessibility by the public. To prepare Qatar community pharmacists to develop the competencies and skills required to offer smoking cessation services, an intensive tobacco control education program was designed and implemented. The study aimed to assess the impact of the tobacco education program on the pharmacists' skills and competence. Methods: A random sample of community pharmacists in Qatar was chosen for participation in the program. Consenting participants were randomly assigned to either intervention or control groups. The intervention group received an intensive education program on treatment of tobacco-use disorder, while a short didactic session on a non-tobacco-related topic was delivered to the control group. The pharmacists' tobacco cessation skills and competencies were assessed using an Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE). Results: A total of 54 and 32 community pharmacists in the intervention group and the control group, respectively, completed the OSCE. The intensive tobacco education group achieved significantly higher total scores than the control group in all the OSCE cases. Specifically, the mean total scores for the intervention group were 15.2, 15.3, 14.2, 14.6, 16.3, and 15.2 compared to 8.8, 6.2, 7.7, 9.2, 8.3, and 11.3 for the control group (p < 0.001) for cases one to six respectively. Conclusion: The study demonstrated that an intensive tobacco cessation education program can improve pharmacists' tobacco cessation skills and increase their tobacco cessation counseling abilities. Trial registration: Clinical Trials NCT03518476 (https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03518476) Registration date: May 8, 2018. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cigarette smoking is a global health epidemic, and smoking along with electronic nicotine delivery systems use or vaping are on the rise. Despite the effectiveness of smoking cessation strategies, healthcare providers and nursing students do not routinely recommend these strategies for patients who are smokers. This study compares the perceptions of smoking and vaping between two groups of baccalaureate degree nursing students from Haiti and the United States. The study was influenced by contemporary and past studies showing that more young people are drawn into smoking and vaping despite the prevalence of antismoking policies and awareness campaigns. In this descriptive study, surveys were used to collect data to determine the differences between the two country's nursing students on their perception of smoking and vaping. The findings indicated that, despite greater usage, the students from the United States had a higher perception of the health implications of cigarette smoking and vaping compared with those from Haiti. On the basis of the findings of this study, collaborative pedagogical research opportunities among international nursing education programs can further curriculum development to foster growth and development of future global health practitioners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Young adults' e-cigarette use is a leading public health concern. Using messages from credible sources can help improve message acceptance, yet little research has examined the role of source credibility on young adults' responses to e-cigarette education messages. We examined the impact of source on young adults' perceptions of e-cigarette education messages and e-cigarettes. In July 2022, we conducted an experimental study using an online sample of young adults (N=459, M age =24.6) who were randomized to one of three source conditions: expert, friend, or influencer, and viewed e-cigarette education messages. We used one-way ANOVA to estimate the association between the conditions and outcomes (perceived source credibility, message trust, curiosity, use interests, perceived message effectiveness, beliefs, harm perceptions, and intentions to refrain). The expert condition was associated with significantly higher perceived source credibility (vs. friend, influencer; p< 0.001), message trust (vs. friend, influencer; p< 0.001), and curiosity (vs. influencer; p's <0.05). Public health campaigns may leverage health experts to deliver e-cigarette education messages targeting young adults to improve effectiveness of the messages. • A credible source can help improve message acceptance. • We examined how young adults respond to different sources of Instagram-styled e-cigarette education messages. • Young adults rated a health expert as more credible than a friend or an influencer. • Health experts may be an effective e-cigarette education message source for young adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Measuring carbon monoxide (CO) in exhaled breath with a visual representation can aid in smoking cessation by increasing smokers' awareness of how smoking negatively affects their health and how many harmful substances they introduce into their bodies. Individuals attempting to quit smoking can regularly measure CO levels to monitor their progress in reducing this gas in their system. The national „Smoke Out Day" is a day aimed at encouraging smokers to quit smoking in the Republic of Croatia. It is celebrated on the first day of Lent, as it is a period when most people contemplate giving up something they enjoy throughout the year. The Institute of Public Health of Virovitičko-podravska County sets up a booth in one of the cities in County on that day. There we offer pamphlets to passersby with information about the harmful effects of smoking and provide them with the opportunity to measure carbon monoxide in their exhaled breath. Objectives: The aim of this study was to explore relationship between smoking status, smoke exposure and the levels of exhaled carbon monoxide. Methods: For measuring CO we used piCO simple Smokerlyzer. From April 2015 till May 2023, 462 individuals have participated in this measurement. The data were processed using the Python programming language version 3.9 and the statistical library Pingouin version 0.5.3. Data visualization was performed using the Seaborn library version 0.12.2. The statistical analyses employed in this study are partial correlations. The Spearman method was used for partial correlations because it can identify nonlinear relationships and is more accurate and robust when the assumptions for Pearson correlation are not met. Results: Partial correlation analysis indicates that there is a statistically significant relationship between the level of carbon monoxide and the following parameters: - Non-smoking status in years (rho = -0.526, p <0.001, two-tailed test). - Number of cigarettes smoked per day (rho = 0.369, p <0.001, two-tailed test). - Testing time after 3 PM (rho = 0.234, p <0.001, two-tailed test). - Number of years as a smoker (rho = 0.230, p <0.001, two-tailed test). - Age in years (rho = -0.179, p <0.001, two-tailed test). - Time spent in a smoky area (rho = 0.114, p <0.016, two-tailed test). Conclusions: In summary, these results provide valuable insights into the factors associated with carbon monoxide levels in humans, with smoking-related variables, age, and testing time showing notable partial correlations. It is important to consider these relationships when assessing and managing carbon monoxide exposure and its potential health implications. Disclosure of Interest: None Declared [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

aimed to evaluate the nicotine addiction syndrome among students of the medical university of Wroclaw. Materials and Methods: The anonymous self-administered online questionnaire regarding tobacco and e-cigarettes smoking was sent to 5616 students. A total of 407 students from Wrocław Medical University who fulfilled the questionnaire were enrolled. Results: One-fourth of the surveyed medical students smoke or have smoked cigarettes in the past. About 75% of students report that there is no information about the harmfulness of smoking and its consequences in the course of teaching in medical studies. The majority of students, 74.5% of women and 62.8% of men, agree that nicotine dependence syndrome should become part of the curriculum of medical universities. Conclusion: The proportion of smokers among medical students is very high, and their knowledge of smoking is insufficient. It seems necessary to implement urgent education for medical students about the consequences of smoking and the treatment of nicotine dependence syndrome. The knowledge of future doctors about the harmfulness of smoking in the future will allow reducing the number of patients suffering from smoking-related diseases and may help reduce the number of smokers among students. It seems necessary to intensify the antismoking campaigns in Poland and worldwide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the effects of gender-specific pictorial health warning labels contingent on their intended gender and threat levels (for females) in forming anti-smoking intentions. We conducted a within-subject design experiment with smokers and nonsmokers in Singapore (N = 100, 50% men). Each participant viewed 10 warning labels–four female-specific (high and low threat), four gender-neutral (high and low threat), and two male-specific (only low threat)–in a random order, evaluating each label on personal relevance, attention, cognitive elaboration, reactance, and intentions to purchase or avoid smoking. The findings showed that females reported greater relevance, attention, elaboration, and intentions to avoid smoking for low threat female-specific warning labels than male-specific or gender-neutral counterparts. Males reported less attention, elaboration, and relevance for low threat male-specific warning labels than female-specific or gender-neutral counterparts. Under high threat conditions, female-specific and gender-neutral warning labels were equally effective for both genders. No differences were observed by smoking status. Overall, gender-specific warning labels are potentially more effective than gender-neutral ones for deterring smoking in women contingent on low threat levels. By providing a deeper understanding of persuasive mechanisms and boundary conditions for the effects of gender specificity, findings can aid health policymakers in developing better gender-responsive interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Although it has been traditionally assumed that dysregulation of psychological processes in smokers results from activity within specific brain regions, an emerging view regards such dysregulation as attributable to aberrant communication between distinct brain regions. These processes can be measured during appropriate task paradigms such as the learning from errors task. This study aims to elucidate interactions between brain regions underlying the process of learning from errors, punishment and sensitivity to reward in dependent smokers. Methods: Functional MRI data from 23 age‐matched dependent smokers (8 females, mean age = 25.48, SD = 4.46) and 23 controls (13 females, mean age = 24.83, SD = 5.99) were analysed during a feedback‐based associative learning task. Functional connectivity between the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, nucleus accumbens and reward/sensorimotor areas was investigated during a feedback learning task. Results: Behaviourally, smokers exhibited lower error correction rates and were less sensitive to punishment magnitude. Smokers showed increased functional connectivity between dorsal anterior cingulate cortex/nucleus accumbens seed regions and numerous reward‐related target regions including the putamen, anterior cingulate and orbitofrontal cortex. Conclusions: Reduced learning from errors and widespread aberrant functional connectivity contribute to the emerging functional characterisation of dependent smokers and may bear significant implications when considering the efficacy of smoking interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Smoking as a practice has been in existence since 5000 B.C. Smoking in public places was banned in India from 2nd October 2008. According to reports by WHO Tobacco kills more than 7 million people each year. Studies show that few people understand the specific health risks of tobacco use. The present study was done to analyze the impact of the Anti-smoking Campaign in the Institutes' Campus and also to make people aware of the harmful effects of smoking and motivate them to quit this habit. Methodology: The campaign constituted of various interventions as screening & collection, monitoring through CCTV Surveillance, imposing penalty as per the Act, Destruction of collected material, Behavioral change communication through Anti-smoking March, Public Lectures, Display of Pamphlets/Signages at various places in the institute & No smoking Pledge and involvement of top management. Results: Total about 2613 Kgs of Tobacco and Tobacco products has been collected and destroyed from March 2014 till April 2020. On an average 40 Kilograms of Tobacco material is collected and destroyed per month. Till April 2020, 108 offenders who were caught smoking in the institute were penalized. 'No smoking Pledge' was taken by all the participants. Conclusion: The success achieved by the anti-smoking campaign in the Institute suggests that there is a dire need and challenge before us to launch such type of campaigns in all the institutes worldwide to curb this menace from our society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]